Love, Confusion and Olivia
by 9548
Summary: A little bit of Ted, a little bit of Walter. Spoilers up to S2E04.


Boston. Of all places, Boston? What could she be doing here? First it was Spain, Sweden, then Chicago, San Francisco and now here. Why can't she just go home? It's so gloomy. Charlie would hate it here. Besides, all this travelling isn't nearly as much fun as it used to be for him. It had taken a lot of begging before Amanda Puryer would use her contacts to find her again, in fact, in the end Charlie had had to reluctantly talk Rayburn into making the woman tell him. He'd better find some of those Boston fruit slices to take back for Charlie as a small payment for the favor.

He waits nervously at a cafe across the street from the hotel. He'd tried her room earlier, but nobody was there. She must have left early, if she returned at all the night before. Ted had spent almost all day the previous day waiting for her at the lobby, until the hotel manager told him he was making the other guests nervous. Well. _They_ were nervous? They weren't the one waiting for the love of their lives to show up! Staring at the door to the lobby, he tries not to panic at the thought of seeing her again.

"I used to live there," confides a man across from him in another booth. "They provide an endless supply of peppermint soap shaped like seashells. Excellent lubricant, if nothing else!"

Ted blinks a few times before nodding his head at this revelation. "I don't like peppermint much. The smell reminds me of scrubbing toilet floors in prison."

"Prison?" the man leans forward, eyebrows rising in surprise. Ted immediately regrets his words. The man suddenly scrambles from his booth and joins Ted in his. He smiles almost shyly and continues, "They were going to put me in prison too, but they decided on a mental institution instead."

"Oh," bewildered, Ted replies, "Mental insti- Why?"

"A girl burned in my lab, died. She had such a sweet smile. I told her mother of course," the man sighs. "The experiment was going so well, the test subject was calibrated just right, flame concentrated on the palm of her right hand-" he shakes his head at the memory. "An imaginative but focused mind is capable of many things. This is what I'm always telling Peter, although he should know it already! And Olivia too, of course."

Ted's increasing concern for his safety flew out of the cafe windows as he heard the one name that meant the world and beyond to him. "Olivia? You know Olivia?"

"Of course I know Olivia!" the man frowns, "I tried to stop Belly, but he wouldn't listen. I could have tried harder, I suppose, but there was such a haze to those days. And perhaps he was right, she is proving to be a formidable part of this battle," he smiles serenely at the confused looking man across from him. "She's quite wonderful."

"I know," Ted isn't sure about the other man's sanity, or bellies and battles, but they agreed on one important fact, it seems, Olivia _is_ wonderful. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"Olivia? She wasn't at the lab when I left," he giggles. "Actually I snuck out. Nobody saw me other than Gene."

"The lab? Olivia's a doctor? She's a scientist?" Ted wonders at this, and mentally berated himself for never asking what she does for a living.

"No, no! She's with the FBI! I thought you knew Olivia!" the man's hands slapped the table as his agitation rose, then immediately fell as a raspberry sundae with extra cream is placed in front of him. He beams at Ted, "Raspberries are my favourite fruit, other than watermelons and strawberries, of course. Although, I recall a particularly sweet type of citrus... "

Ted momentarily stops listening as this new information about his Olivia suddenly made everything clearer. FBI! Olivia is with the Bureau? Did Charlie know? Possibly not, or he would've mentioned it. Was she investigating Charlie? Was the wedding with Charlie's dad just a cover? Is that why she's suddenly travelling all over the place? Is red really her hair color? Ted clears his throat, "Charlie likes fruit."

"Poor Agent Francis," he says, nodding distractedly, "Poor Olivia."

"Who? Why? What happened?"

"Charlie. Olivia shot his head. It's the only way to kill them, it seems. Though, Charlie truly must've died weeks ago, when the shifter first took his appearance. But she's still terribly affected. I offered her medication to help forget, but she refused. I took a bucket load when I thought she was going to die. But I suppose forgetting isn't always the answer."

Eyes wide open and mouth unable to work for a moment, Ted finally splutters, "Olivia shot Charlie?" a fluttering heartbeat, then, "She almost _died_?!"

"Walter! How many times have I told you not to disappear without telling anybody where you're going?" an irritated young man suddenly appears next to their booth. Hands resting on the table, he leans forward to glare at the older man, "And no, Gene doesn't count as 'anybody'!"

"Peter. Peter, this man knows Olivia!"

Peter turns to Ted, still frowning slightly, "You know Olivia? Who are you?"

"I'm Ted," Ted isn't sure he likes this Peter's tone as he says Olivia's name, like she belongs with him, not with Ted. Ted has had enough of being the other man in Olivia's life. He's ready to step up, stake his claim, as soon as he catches up with her. "And yes I know Olivia. I love her!"

Peter straightens up in surprise, and Walter does the same. They both look at him as though he'd grown a third head.

Finally, in a quiet if slightly sceptical voice, Peter asks, "Does she know?"

"Not yet," Ted says desperately. Gesturing in frustration at the hotel, he continues, "But I will tell her, as soon as she turns up."

"I'll do you one better," jaw clenched tightly, Peter says, "I'll take you to her. Walter, let's go."


End file.
